


I'll meet you somewhere in the past.

by La_Califfa



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Art, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Female Bucky Barnes, Fix-It, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 01:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15450234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Califfa/pseuds/La_Califfa
Summary: After losing the battle to Thanos, the Avengers that were left try to fix the universe by going back in time. But Steve Rogers may save more while he is at it.A fix it fic with a genderbending twist.





	I'll meet you somewhere in the past.

The aftermath of the fight was too calm. Anticlimactic even. Just a snap of fingers and people all around just vanished. No screams of pain, no cries for help. Just gone.

_ Steve? _

Becky’s voice was still ringing in his head. She just vanished, right in front of his eyes. Was this a dream? A nightmare?

“Steve!”

He jumped, startled from his stupor. He was sitting in the same position he had fallen, trying to reach for Becky… _ too late… too late… Beck... _

“Steve!” the voice called again. He looked up and saw Natasha, looking frantic, eyes wild, gesturing his way. “Steve, come on!”

“Nat...” he felt heat rush into his face, his throat close, and his eyes burn. Looking around, he saw people running around seeming confused. Thano’s army was gone. Thanos was gone. He got to his feet unsteady, and went Natasha's way.

“We need to go!” the red haired said.

“Go where?” he asked with his voice broken.

“Regroup… gather everyone.” she started to walk away, trusting he would follow.

“Regroup?” he scoffed “With whom?”

“Anyone that's left!” she answered angrily at him, her own eyes misty with tears.

Steve stopped. He wasn't the only one that lost a loved one. Snapping out of his own head for a moment, he took a breath and followed her, gathering the survivors on the way back to Wakanda’s main city.

Thor and Banner were still with them. The small talking raccoon too (and Steve thought he had seen everything in his lifetime). Shuri and Okoye met them, both crying the loss of their king. Sam and Wanda were nowhere to be seem, and Steve felt despair all over again. Once they were all back to Shuri’s lab, they started to connect with the rest of the world. No signs of Tony either. Steve tried the damn burn phone hundreds of times, but no answer.

Natasha’s cry took his attention away. She was talking to Clint on the phone, crying. He had never seen her cry before. Clint was alive.

News started to come in, and they could account for the dead and the living. As the night came upon them, Wakanda was silent. The survivors just went their separate ways, to grief on their own.

Steve walked out, not wanting to stay on a room they gave to him. He could not be inside walls tonight. He walked out, into the night and destroyed fields, to find a hut. One that Shuri said that Becky had been staying, after she was woken from the ice. He found the place, close to a lake.

They wasted so much time. Steve should not have left, should not have let Becky convince him it was the best idea to go back under. They should have been together, he should have stayed in Wakanda, with her. They could have stayed forever in that fucking place together, made more memories for him to keep now.

_ It's better this way. _ She said to him when they were about to freeze her again. It hadn't been better at all. 

He felt his lungs burn, like they did when he used to have asthma attacks. His eyes burned, his throat closed up. They had so little time. After he found out that Becky was alive, after Washington, it felt like he could count the time they had together on one hand's fingers. 

He sobbed, big and ugly sobs ripped from his chest. He never said enough, never told Becky all that she meant, how important she was.

_ I'm not sure I'm worth all this, Steve.  _ She had said back in the Quinjet, on their way to Siberia.

She was worth everything.

_ Steve? _

Her voice haunted him. Steve could not even reach her in time. Those...ashes? Pieces? They just flew away, slipping thru his fingers. He started ripping of his tactical armor, releasing pent up anger throwing the pieces onto the ground. Once he only had his pants on, breathing harshly, he turned and went into the hut. A small bed was still there. Laying down, he spent two days on Becky's previous home. This was the last piece of Beck he could have, and he was going to damn well drown his grief and regrets on it.

Becky was gone. Half of the world was gone. And he was, once again, alone.

 

__________

 

Two days later, Natasha found him on the shore of the lake. He was sitting, looking miserable at the water.

“Rogers.” she acknowledged.

“Nat.” he said back “Any news?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” she sat beside him. 

He just looked expectantly. “And?”

“That racoon. Turns out he is super intelligent, as in Stark intelligent. He's been meddling with the tech on Shuri’s lab, and managed to find Stark on a long range power sensor.” she smiled. “Shuri is going nuts about all the new tech he's been building using parts of her lab.”

“Where is he?”

“On another planet. Titan.”

“Shit.” Steve cursed running hands thru his messy hair. It never stopped being bizarre.

“Don't worry, Rocket, and that’s the raccoon’s name by the way, said it will be piece of cake to get him back.”

“Well, I wouldn't be surprised by anything anymore.”

“How about you come back? We need you, Cap.”

“Why?”

“Who’s gonna handle Stark once he comes back from outer space?” she joked.

In spite of everything, he laughed. He didn't feel like handling anything right now.  Looking at his friend, he saw the tiredness and grief in her eyes, and maybe it was time to start being useful again. 

_ Get up your ass and do something useful, Rogers!  _

Yeah, Becky wouldn't want him to be like this. Looking at Natasha, he got up. “Let's go.”

She stopped him when he started to walk away.

“I'm sorry.” she said softly.

He felt his eyes burn again, and avoided her gaze. “Yeah, me too.” 

 

__________

  
  


Tony came back as expected. Rocket and Shuri created a portal that took them to at least four other planets, before finding Stark on the right one. He came back frantic, asking for Pepper, and only after Natasha confirmed to him that she was fine, he would settle down. A blue skinned bald woman, with robotic body parts came with him. Rocket went straight at her.

"Nebula?" he managed to say. She just shook her head at him, looking miserable.

"All gone." she whispered. Rocket had left the room then, kicking and screaming at everything he saw in his way.

Steve just gave Tony a hug. One that Tony returned and they both shared a look that said any differences they had, would be on hold for the time being. 

“Cap.”

“Stark.”

And after a nod, Tony went off to find food, a bath and a bed.

 

__________

 

On the next day, Tony approached him.

“Cap. Can I have a word?”

Steve nodded and they found a more secluded room on Shuri´s lab to talk. It was a stone room, like a lounge, with a window to the forest outside.

“So, how are our numbers?”

Steve sighed. “We lost many of ours. Wanda, Vision… Sam and T’Challa. We heard that Nick Fury and Hill are also missing, so we aren’t very hopeful.”

Tony looked at the view stoic. “The kid. The spider kid also is gone.” he said with a small catch to his voice. “A crazy magician that had another infinity stone as well. The others that were with me on Titan? All gone. They were with the robo chick.”

They shared a heavy silence, before Tony asked,

“What about… the soldier?” he asked awkwardly.

“Gone too.” he snapped.

“Hm” Tony scratched his goatee while Steve kept his eyes away, on the view. “I know it doesn't help now, but… I'm sorry.”

Steve snorted. “Are you?”

“Ah, fuck it Rogers.” Tony answered angrily. “This whole thing happened because you decided to favor one friend over all your allies. And allies, that were your friends too.”

“It wasn't just a matter of friendship Tony!”

“Oh yeah? Could have fooled me!”

“So tell me this: what if it was Pepper? What would you have done?” he asked angry.

Tony froze. His mind quickly reminding him that Pepper was alive and safe at Stark Tower at this very moment. He snorted. 

“That… that’s not even the same thing!”

“Oh, you're so clever, aren’t you?” Steve mocked.

Tony froze again, but his mind went reeling. Fuck all of it. How he didn’t see this before?

“Shit.” Tony cursed. “You and…”

“Yep.” Steve agreed, the fight leaving him.

They stood there, beside each other, looking the forest outside for long minutes, and only after Tony left with a pat on his shoulder, Steve could breathe easily. That sounded a lot more sincere.

 

__________

  
  


The next day, Tony was found on Shuri´s lab, joining her and Rocket on their work. Nebula just haunted the place, never leaving Rocket out of her sight.  


Shuri had shown Stark all the scans of the Mind Stone that she had taken from Vision. Rocket had talked about all he knew about the infinity stones,and together they spent days looking onto the data. They were positive that something that the infinity stones destroyed, could be recreated by them too. Stark’s own chest power source came from the Tesseract after all, he knew the tech to control it.

Steve helped the Dora Milaje and Okoye, since Wakanda was without a king. The Queen mother was grieving, and M’Baku was chosen to be in charge while things settled.  Natasha and him were more suited to the tactical, than the scientifical. They helped to rebuild the borders, look for more survivors, organize their defences. Steve wasn't proud to admit, but he couldn't care much for the outside world right now. 

Him, Natasha and Thor talked, and the God of Thunder told them what happened after the Ragnarok. How Asgard was lost, how his family and Loki were dead. Steve was amazed, because even after all this, he still kept going to the end…. Thor was the one that had come closest to killing Thanos.

After weeks of research, of Stark and Rocket blowing Shuri's lab at least twice each, they got some news.

“Stark, if you can contain this thing like you said you can, you know what that means, right?” Rocket asked.

“You mean to say, that we can use artificial power to act like one of the stones, yeah, of course I know.”

“Any idea how to do it? We are not getting young here.” the raccoon complained.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” He turned to Shuri, that was almost falling asleep on Nebula's shoulder, both of them sitting side by side on the work table. “Hey!” and she woke with a jump “We're gonna need vibranium.”

“Lucky you're in the right place.” she complained walking away to get what he wanted.

It took them a whole week, but they were not geniuses for nothing.

“Cap, Widow, nice of you to show up!” Tony said, with the energy of someone who drank gallons of coffee.

“You did call us here, Stark.” Natasha said in her melodic voice. Steve just spied his phone again, seeing the hundred something messages Tony had sent them half an hour ago.

“Where’s Pointbreak? He’s vital in this mission!” he complained.

“I'm here, Stark” and Thor came in looking angry like he always seemed to be these days. Steve patted him on the shoulder.

“Great! So here's the thing...”

“We found a way to go back in time.” Rocket said ahead of Tony.

“Dude! I wanted to tell them!” he looked annoyed “Anyway! We found a way to go back in time!” Tony repeated.

“How?” Thor and Steve asked in unison.

Rocket and Tony showed them a little device, small as a wrist watch, and explained they could use it to go back to any time in the past or the future.  Steve was carefully hopeful. Could it be?

“The thing is, we need to know where to go.” Tony explained. “We need energy to go back and forth, can’t waste or will get trapped and the past.”

“You need to know that messing with the past, can mess with the present, so you have to think carefully.” Rocket added.

Thor looked thoughtful. “I know where we need to go. We need to go back to the battle of New York.”

“Why?” Steve asked, frowning.

“Loki was in New York, and we had two infinity stones within reach. The mind stone was in Loki's scepter and the space stone on the Tesseract.”

“Getting the space stone, would prevent Thanos from traveling space so fast.” Nebula commented. Rocket jumped, she had just appeared at his side.  


“Can you handle these stones, Thor?” Steve asked.  


“I have forget a mighty weapon on a heart of a dying star. My power have grown to rival a celestial’s with my new axe. I'm confident I can.”

“Confident” Rocket snorted. “And what do you plan to do with the stones? Swallow them?”

“We can take them to Asgard and with the Allfather’s help, we can destroy them. Then we can prevent Thanos from ever having all the stones.”

“According to Shuri’s data, the mind stone that vision had is much more complex than creating a living organism. The mind is limitless.” Tony explained.

Steve's heart jumped in his chest. “If there's a chance, I want to try.”

“How would this work?” Natasha finally joined the talk.

“Well, we are working on theories here, but we think only the ones who were present on the battle should do this. We don’t know how this will work exactly, if we will travel back and be doubles or if our conscience will go back to our bodies there, so…” he looked at Shuri, Rocket and Nebula, “only the five of us should come.”

“Five?” Natasha asked.

“Banner needs to come. How else will we stop Loki?”

“No need. I'm gonna stop him this time.” Thor said confident.

“Right. Celestial and stuff.” Stark mumbled.

“Banner should stay with Rocket and Shuri, because we might need help from another scientist from this side.” Steve commented. Bruce has been helping the medical centers in Wakanda, and was rarely seen on the main city.

“Good idea. So, are we ready?” Tony asked enthusiastic, clapping his hands.

“You wanna do this now?” Steve asked surprised.

“Sorry Cap, did you mean to have a haircut and shave before leaving?” he mocked.

Steve rolled his eyes. “I meant, don’t you think we should test it?”

“No way to test it.” Rocket said. “All or nothing.”

There was no doubt for Steve. Looking at Natasha, he saw she was ready for it too.

Stark, Natasha, Thor and Steve got their “mobile travel machine”, as Tony charmingly named them, and wrapped it around their wrists. 

“You will need the Tesseract´s energy to come back. So, no pressure, but don’t fail.” Rocket snapped at them. 

Steve swallowed and looked at his friends. They all looked somewhat spooked, but determined. They decided to take half an hour to arms themselves, in case they became doubles in the past. They would need weapons after all. They all made a circle in the middle of Shuri´s lab. Rocket and her were looking nervously at them. Nebula's dark stare was hopeful.  


“Good Luck!” Shuri called to them. 

They made the correct adjustments to take the group 6 years in the past. At Tony’s signal, they twisted the small device, and after a bright flash, they were gone, leaving the lab empty.

Rocket sighed and exchanged a look with Nebula, “Here goes nothing.”

 

__________

  
  


Steve gasped as he momentarily lost his balance. 

Looking around, he saw he was on SHIELD’s helicarrier. Looking around, he saw a destroyed metal wall, the sky beyond, and on a upper ledge, Stark was looking around, seeming a little off too. If he was correct, this moment was just after Loki had ran away from them, after releasing the Hulk.

“Cap?” he called from above “You with me?”

“Yeah.” Steve answered a little breathless.“Loki just got away.”

Just as he said that, they heard Fury talking on their ears about Agent Coulson’s death. Shit!

Tony got down from the upper walk, joining Steve, and they ran back to the corridors. “We need to find the widow.” 

Steve knew where she was, and lost no time running to the medbay. When they were halfway there, she appeared looking for them, looking frantic, dragging Clint after her.

“Are you ok?” she asked them.

“Yeah, it worked!” Tony said hysterically.

“What worked?” Clint asked confused.

“Nothing.” Natasha cut him off. “Let's go!” and dragging Clint after her, they went to steal a Quinjet. They were a little ahead of Loki this time, they could reach New York in time, before he opened the portal over Stark Tower. Once they were off in the air, they breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other. Natasha had red hair again and Steve didn’t have a beard anymore. Their suits and guns were the same as that day.

“No doubles then.” Stark commented.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Clint meddled in. “Where are we going?”

“We are going to get Loki.” Natasha said.

“You know where he is?” the archer asked surprised.

“Yep.” the other three answered in unison.

When the quinjet reached New York, they were relieved. No portal yet. Tony left the plane,  by it's back door, flying on his suit to the tower´s top. It was strange, they had arrived just as the portal opened, last time, but no sign of trouble so far. 

There wasn’t a hangar for the quinjet on the tower yet, and Nat and Clint had to land on the ground, creating a mild panic on the side streets of Stark Tower. They left the plane in a hurry, entering the tower, running over confused and angry securities and taking the elevators to the roof. 

When they finally got there, it was strange. The machine that fueled the portal was broken on the ground. They exchanged looks and went back inside, to Stark´s main floor. 

If the roof was strange, this was downright surreal. 

Thor and Tony were sitting on the floor, close to the bar, drinking whiskey in companionable silence. On the couches of the penthouse, two figures: one Eric Selvig, drinking his own whiskey, looking worse for wear and on the other one God of Mischief himself, Loki, unconscious and in handcuffs.

“I told you I could deal with him now.” Thor answered with a huge smile. He got up and went to the couch, patting his brother in the head. “I won't lose you this time.”

Steve was astonished. “And the stones?”

Tony pointed to the bar. On the quartz top, innocently lay, the Tesseract and Loki's scepter.

Nat and Steve breathed relieved. 

Clint just looked confused. “What the HELL?”

 

__________

  
  


They spent the night on the tower. Tony and Thor took the Tesseract and the Scepter to his lab, so they could adjust their time machines for the travel back. However, they didn't have all things ready like in Shuri's lab, so Tony had to quiclky work on the machines to adjust them to get them all back.   


Natasha and Steve were watching out from the roof, for any changes. Nothing so far. New York remained intact. Clint was asleep downstairs.  


“How long you think it's gonna take for Stark to get us back?” Natasha asked Steve.

“Knowing him, he won't sleep until he's figured it out.” 

Natasha smiled and gave him a bittersweet smile. “I wish we had arrived in time to save Coulson.”

“Hm?”

“If we had arrived an hour earlier, we could had saved Coulson too.”

Steve frowned. Yeah she was right, they could have. He would still be alive. Not dead like Becky...  


_ Wait... _

Steve's proverbial light bulb just exploded in his head. 

Becky wasn't dead in this time. She was frozen. 

And he knew  _ exactly  _ where she was.

“Natasha!” he exclaimed, holding her arm.

“What?? WHAT??” she looked frantically around, looking for anything wrong.

“We can save Becky!”

“What?”

“I know where she is right now! She is in Siberia, on that base! She told me and Sam, they kept her on that base when she was frozen! We can get her away from HYDRA!”

Natasha seemed to assimilate that for a moment, before her eyes grew round.

“HYDRA!” she exclaimed. “Hydra is within SHIELD! We need to warn them!”

“Come on!” and both ran down to Tony's lab.

The place was a mess as usual. Tony using goggles and buried under machinery. Thor was sleeping on a chair, and they saw he had carried Loki downstairs as well, the God of Mischief still unconscious on another chair right beside him.

Steve and Nat ignored them, coming straight at Tony.

“We can save Beck.” Steve said a little breathless.

“And stop HYDRA, we can stop project Rebirth.” Natasha continued.

“Hey hey, wait, what the hell?” Tony exclaimed, taking his goggles off. “What’s the fuss?”

Steve took a breath. “At this moment, we know that HYDRA is infiltrated on SHIELD, and I know where they are keeping Becky. On that base.” Steve didn't feel the need to explain which, at least not to Tony. “She's alive there, right now, Tony.”

Tony twisted his mouth. “And you want to go there… for what? Wake her?”

“Yes, we can take her back before HYDRA puts the project Rebirth in action.”

“She tried to kill Fury and us, when they woke her up back then.” Natasha commented.

“Wait, you want to go all the way to Siberia to wake her?” Tony stood up close to them, crossing his arms.”What about not messing too much with the past?”

“I can't leave her there to be tortured, Tony!”

“If we can get the Winter Soldier on our side, on SHIELD before HYDRA releases her on us, we can have a leverage.”

“What...” and Natasha pinched Steve on his ribs before he could say anything. She shut him with a look. He took the hint.

“Hm. Well, I am almost done here, and we should not stay too long on this past if we hope to be back safe.” Tony complained.

“We can go there now.” Thor said from behind them. The three others looked at him surprised. “We can go there, and bring the Captain´s sister in arms. Right now, and quickly.”

“Listen, blondie, as much as the jet can fly fast, there's no way you can go quickly to Siberia and back.”

“We don't need to fly anywhere.” and he showed them the Tesseract in his hands. “We just need this.”

Steve's heart jolted. Of course, the Tesseract controlled space. He turned back to Tony.

“I'm going.” he said stubbornly. 

Tony looked among them. “Ok, look and what exactly you think you can do for her? We're leaving! She will be stuck here with another Steve, one that won´t know the future, or how to help her. She's gonna be taken by SHIELD the same way she was by HYDRA.”

“No.” Natasha interrupted. “We will get Fury into their scheme and he can clean them off right under their noses.”

“Oh, and Saint Nicky is so righteous. As if he wouldn’t take the chance to take HYDRA's prime weapon to his own.” he mocked.

“She's not a weapon!” Steve snapped. Turning to Thor, he asked, “When can we leave?”

Thor looked at his brother, and back at Tony. “Man of Iron, We'll be back soon. Watch over my brother.” and turned his back on them, leaving the room.

“Ugh!” Tony grabbed at his hair, when he saw Natasha and Steve following him. “ Fine! But for chrissakes, don't be late!”

 

__________

 

At the roof of Stark tower, the three of them looked at the Tesseract in Thor's hand.

“Now what?” Natasha asked.

“We'll open a portal to the destination, however Captain, you'll have to help me. I don't know where we are going.”

“Do you want a map?”

Thor's laughter echoed in the night. “No, my friend, You’ll touch the Tesseract with me, and think of the place, as clear as you can.”

Steve thought carefully about that base. The snow, the iron door, the path they made with the Quinjet. When Thor nodded, they touched the Tesseract and they sensed an energy field appear. Off to their side, appeared what looked like a hole in mid air, showing a snowy landscape beyond. 

“Are we really doing this?” Natasha asked a little spooked.

“Come on.” Steve said, leading them thru the gateway.

The shock of cold punched them in the chest, making their breaths freeze. Once all the three of them passed, the gate closed behind them. Looking around, Steve saw in a little distance the iron doors to the HYDRA's base. They were in the right place.

“Alright,” they put their heads together, like a football team. “There could be agents inside, we need to go in prepared.” Steve told them. Natasha and him checked their weapons and Thor just cracked his neck.

Just like he entered the building before, Steve went ahead, checking for anyone. And just as before, there was silence everywhere. They took the elevator, and arrived at more empty halls. Confident they were alone, Steve quickened his pace, until they arrived at the round center of the base. It was pitch dark, save for a few little spots of light. 

Natasha found a switch and the room slowly started to iluminate. First, they saw cryo chambers light up on the sides. Steve shuddered when he saw the figures of the other soldiers sitting asleep inside. Then, chambers next to the first ones lighted up as well. Finally, at the far end of the room, a bigger chamber, full of smoke also lighted up.

Steve felt his heart hammering his chest. As he got closer to it, the smoke started to dissipate and he froze.

It was Becky.

He felt his stomach roll. She was standing up, eyes closed. There were cables connected to her body and a mask covering her face. Her hair was long and loose, full of ice. He felt sick. The glass was full of ice crystals.  


Gunshots sounded loud in the room, and he turned around, already pointing his gun. He saw Natasha, tears down her cheeks, lowering her weapon. Thor looked at her with huge eyes. Steve saw where she was looking and saw that she had shot all the sleeping soldiers in the head. Steve froze. No…. Becky…

“Natasha….” he asked suspiciously.

She wiped her cheeks clumsily, and looked at him with red eyes. “No more soldiers for HYDRA. Let's get her and get the hell out of here.” she said upset.

Relief washed over Steve. Together, they turned all the equipment on, and found the procedures to unfreeze Becky. When Natasha pushed the proper buttons, the giant glass cylinder that covered Becky started to rise. Smoke and vapor flushed out of the base of the chamber.

Steve ran to her, and once Natasha nodded to him, he jumped inside, unplugging Becky from all the cables holding her up. She felt cold as ice, and started to fall, but he got her in his arms, carrying her like a baby leaning her weight on his shoulder. Steve carried her up to a chair, and laid her down. He noticed what chair it was, but it was the only place he could lay her, other than the ground.

He removed her mask and took a moment to just look at her. 

His Becky. She looked like she was asleep, and he caressed her forehead, eyes starting to burn with tears. He needed help. Was Becky dead? She looked so pale.  


Natasha appeared at his side, with a red book in her hands. “They wrote down everything in here Steve.”

Together they read thru some pages, but most of the writing was in russian. They failed to see Becky's breathing start to pick up. Thor found blankets and thermal covers around the room, and piled over Becky. Steve was leaning over her, looking at the book Natasha held close to him.  


“Nat, you think..” and he was suddenly interrupted, by a hand grabbing his throat. The surprise made him fall backwards, and a body jumped over him, straddling his waist and strangling him with force. He could only see her. Becky's wild, murderous eyes, like the day at the bridge. He held her metal wrist, but she wouldn't bulge.

“SOLDAT!” Natasha shouted at her.

The effect was immediate. With a gasp she released Steve, crawling backwards until she bumped her back on the chair. Steve coughed, getting his breath back, looking at Becky. She was a mess. Her clothes and hair were soaking wet, thanks to the melted ice. She was shaking, with fear and cold, breathless, her eyes empty, looking ahead. She looked frightened.  


“Beck…” he started to come close to her, and her empty gaze found his. “It's ok, It's me..” but his voice just agitated her more, and she started to curl into herself, as if in pain. Steve didn't know what to do.

 

**“Желание”** _ Desire _

 

Both Steve and Becky looked at Natasha, who was holding the red book. The book with the Winter Soldier trigger words. “Nat! No!”

 

**“ржавый”**  Rusted

 

She went on, and as Steve got up to stop her, Thor held him Back. “No, Natasha!”

 

**“Семнадцать”** Seventeen

 

**“Рассвет”** Dawn 

 

**“Печь”** Stove

 

**“Девять”** Nine

 

“No, Nat!” Steve begged, trying to get rid of Thor’s hold. The God of Thunder just grabbed at him by the back of the neck, like a bully would to a little kid. Becky had hugged her own legs, and was shaking and gasping at every new word. “What are you doing?” he asked desperately.

 

**“Добросердечный** ”  Kind-hearted

 

**“возвращение на родину”**  Homecoming

 

**“Один”** one, alone

 

Becky cried out in pain, covering her ears. 

 

**“грузовой вагон”**  Freight car

 

Once Natasha said the last word, everything was silent. Thor finally released Steve and he snatched the book out of her numb hands. Save for Becky, the other three were breathing heavily. Just as Steve was about to shout at his friend, Becky got up fluiddly from the ground.

She looked composed, even being cold and soaking wet, and walked slowly to stand at attention in front of Natasha.

“Ready to comply.” she spoke in english, with a heavy russian accent.

Steve felt like he could vomit. "What did you do, Nat?” he asked angrily, coming beside her. Becky just looked straight ahead.

“Rogers, we don't have much time and we need her to cooperate!” she spat back. Taking the book from his hands again, she shoved it at his face. “This is the missing piece! With this, we can fix her mind! But we need to get out of here now!” and before he could answer, she turned to Becky and spoke to her in russian. Becky listened, and nodded. “Come on, let's go!”

Once Natasha started to leave, Becky followed her closely. Becky was taller, and had a wider frame than Natasha, but the red haired woman had complete control over the brunette.

Thor whisted. “I wouldn't want to be in her way, my friend.” he said, patting Steve on the back and following the two women.

Steve rubbed his face and followed them too. He ran ahead, walking with Natasha, and left Becky and Thor walking behind them, side by side. “What are we gonna do now?” he asked her.

“This was your plan Rogers, you tell me.” she snapped back, still angry at him.

He thought. They could take Becky back to New York and leave her in the care of SHIELD. But it was too risky. Once HYDRA came back to this base, they would find all her soldiers dead and one missing. They would stop at nothing to get her back. Even if SHIELD got HYDRA first, it was risk he wasn't willing to take. Becky needed to dissapear.  


“I know where to go.” he said finally.  


  
  


__________

  
  


To say that the Dora Milaje were caught by surprise, by four strangers that had suddenly appeared on their palace doorstep, it was an overstatement. They immediately surrounded them, and surrendered their weapons.

“Who are you?” one of them asked, pointing their spears at them. Steve was amused to see a younger Okoye. He raised his hands.

“My name is Steve Rogers, these are my friends, I would like to see the king T‘Chaka.”

“What business you want with our king?” she asked again.

“We need sanctuary.” and Steve looked at Becky, still locked inside her own head, looking at nothing. “And your help.”

The frisson of having four strangers cross Wakanda's hidden frontiers without being noticed was enough to get them the king's attention. They were brought to a throne room, with elders and more guards around a circular room. 

“Hope you know what you're doing Rogers.” Natasha whispered to him, as the King entered the room, followed by a younger T'Challa. The Queen Mother and younger Shuri came after them, and sat on a side chair together, looking at them curiously.

Once the King sat on a center Throne like chair, He mentioned to Steve to come closer.

“And who are you, who seek sanctuary in Wakanda? A place you should not even know was here?” his tone was curious, and Steve felt confident.

“King T’Chaka.” he bowed a little. “I'm Steve Rogers,” and he motioned with his hands to the others. “This is Natasha Romanoff and Thor Odinson.” Both made a bow with their heads. “Someone from Wakanda once called us friends, and we came in search for help.” before the King could ask anything, Steve motioned to Becky. “This is Becky. She is a prisoner of war. She's been tortured and manipulated for years, and her mind is not her own anymore.” he had to cough to clear his throat. "Wakanda helped her once, I was hoping you can help her again.” he said enigmatically.

The King looked from Steve to Becky and back again. “Everyone out.” he ordered.

After a bit of commotion, and some rebelion from T’Challa, only the king and his guards remained. He got up, and came close to Steve. “You are not from here.” the king said.

“No your Highness. But she is.” he nodded to Becky again.

“War is something that almost destroyed Wakanda in the past. War is something we avoid, that we teach our children never to revert to.” he looked a little sadly to Becky. “You say Wakanda is your friend, and you found your way here. You must know we have the most advanced medical center of the world.” the king looked at Steve "You want us to help. Heal your friend. Do you trust something so precious to our hands?"  


Steve smiled. “I know how it looks, sir. But believe me, there is no one in the world I would trust her with, but you. You and your children.”

Natasha walked slowly up to them, giving the red book to the king. “Everything that was ever done to her is recorded here. She's been brainwashed.” and Steve flinched at the word “She was used by evil people to do their dirty deeds, and she doesn’t deserve it.” Natasha looked at Becky. “She's a survivor, but she needs so much help.”

The king took the book cautiously, and looked back at Steve. “Does that mean, that you won't be staying with her, Steve Rogers?” the King asked.

“I can't. Not now. I have to go back from where I came, but… once I get there, I'm coming for her.”

The king nodded. “Then I wish you a safe journey back, and be at ease, for your friend will be safe with us.”

“No one can find her.” Steve insisted.

“No one will.” the King answered proudly.

“Captain.” Thor called from behind them. “We need to go now.”

Steve looked at the king, who just nodded his head. With a bow, he came closer to Becky. She was still staring blankly ahead. He held her face in his hands. 

“I'll come back for you Beck.” and with that he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Becky blinked, and her eyes focused on Steve, frowning.

“Who the hell is Becky?” she asked, voice dry.

Steve felt his face crumble and felt tears spill his cheeks. Putting his forehead to hers, he kissed her one more time on the forehead and whispered: “I’ll be back for you. I promise”

  
  


____________

  
  


To say that Tony was epileptic once they return was to keep it low.

“What took you so long!” he asked angrily. “Where the hell is the soldier?”

“She's safe Tony.” was all Steve said, face and eyes red from crying.

Tony made a constipated face. “Fine! Look, we are ready to go, we need to go! Thor, are you taking your brother with us or  _ what _ ?” he asked hysterically, montioning said man unconscious on the couch.  


“I'm gonna take him home, and clear his mind of Thanos’ poison using the mind stone. I will be back in a moment.” Grabbing the Tesseract, and putting a sleeping Loki over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, he went to the roof again. This time, they heard the bifrost take them away.

“Anyone's gonna tell me what happened??”

Steve and Natasha gave Tony a short version of the story, explaining why they had to leave Becky in Wakanda, and not with SHIELD. Nathasa used the time while Steve was telling the story to send a bunch of encrypted messages to Nick Fury, explaining everything about HYDRA´s infiltration.  


After 20 minutes, just as they were finishing the story, Thor was back.

“Are you ready my friends?” he said happily. After all, he had just seen his family again.

“What did you do with the Tesseract and the scepter?” Natasha asked him.

“Oh, my father and I took care to destroy them. Thanos will never find all the stones again.” he shrugged with a smile.

“Amazing. Great. Let’s go home.” Tony said exasperated. “Just to be clear, we will go back to the the timeline we left, but I have no idea where we will be.” The four of them gulped and nodded.

Using the time travel devices as they did before, and after another flash, they were gone.

  
  


_________

  
  


Steve opened his eyes. He was laying down a big bed. The room was spacious, big windows covered by curtains. He was wearing a soft pajama bottom, no shirt, and saw some familiar things around the room. His old blue and red shield hanging on the wall called his attention. He got out of bed silently and took it carefully into his arm without making a noise. He tiptoed to the hall, walking hunched over himself, when a voice spoke all of a sudden.

“Something the matter, Captain Rogers?”

Steve was so surprised that he actually fell on his butt in the middle of the hallway.

“Jarvis??” he asked incredulously.

“Were you expecting someone else, sir?” the electronic voice asked ironically.

“You… you…” Steve got up, and touched the walls, looking at the ceiling. “You're back!”

“I wasn't aware that I had left in the first place, sir.”

“Jesus.” Steve ran the small hallway, dropping his shield. He came to a huge room, a living room of a very spacious apartment. A ping sound made him turn around. An elevator opened directly into the living room, and Tony came out, only wearing boxers, that had Iron Man's face all over it, and hair all over the place.

“ROGERS!” he screamed. He looked just like he had fallen out of bed and ran off.

“Tony!” he came close to the other man.

“Jarvis is on the ceiling!” Tony said hysterically.

“I am actually on the whole building sir.” Jarvis interjected.

“See??” he asked with a huge smile.

“Did it work?” Steve asked grabbing the sides of his hair.

“We need to find Romanoff and Thor!” Tony answered.

“Miss Romanoff is still sleeping on her floor, and Thor is currently off planet.” Jarvis said helpfully.

Steve and Tony ran into the elevator like two kids, and went into Natasha's floor. Just as they exited again, they saw her coming out of one of the rooms, wearing a long shirt to her knees, looking around with huge eyes.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“In my tower!” Tony answered excited. “Not only what we did worked, but we changed the future! Or, the present!”

The sound of flushing came from Natasha's bathroom, and they all watched in awe as Sam Wilson himself came out wearing a towel around his waist. He froze when he saw all the people looking at him. “What the hell?”

“SAM!” they chorused and hugged the man. 

“Hey hey! Naked dude here!” he started to get away from his friends crazy antics.

They all gave the man space, and Steve and Tony were left looking between Nat and Sam.

“Isn't this your floor, Romanoff?”

“Are you a prude now, Stark?” Sam snorted, giving Nat a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning beautiful.” he said enamored.

Natasha flushed red, to match her long red curly hair. She looked at Sam with a smirk.

“And that's our cue, Cap.” Tony slapped Steve on the arm, and walked back to the elevator. 

Once they went back to Steve’s floor, the blond saw himself in the elevator mirror. His hair was short again and he had a beard again, but not as thick as he let it grow while he was on the run.

“This is surreal.” Tony spoke. “Get dressed Cap, we need to catch up with the news of the world.”

After both of them were dressed, they sat at the main floor of the tower, and while having breakfast they asked Jarvis to list the main world events from the last 6 years.

There was no Loki. There was no Ultron. HYDRA had been wiped out on a strike by Nick Fury, killing it's main leader, Alexander Pierce. Nothing from outer space at all.

When Clint joined them for breakfast, he got bored with the old news and confused why they were reading news from five years ago. Nat joined them after, followed by Sam. Both looked flushed. Clint winked at her, and she blushed even more.

Steve was in awe. Destroying the stones took earth away from their paths of destruction. The world just kept on going, never knowing the bullet they all dodged.

“Tony.” Steve called his friend.

“Eh?” he answered, not taking his eyes from the TV screen.

“Is it ok if I borrow one of your jets?”

Tony looked at Steve with knowing eyes.

“What are you still doing here, Cap?”

 

__________

 

Okoye was so done.

A jet was asking permission to enter Wakanda. How did a jet even  _ knew _ how to ask permission? It wasn't the strangest thing she had ever seen on these parts, but still. Not only this event was strange, but the King and Prince themselves came to the main landing area, to wait for the jet´s arrival. Would it be too much for anyone tell her what was going on? The king´s enigmatic smile was driving her crazy, and of course he knew that.  


After a 15 minute wait, the jet could be seen approaching. It was modern, black and with a big “A” printed on the side. It maneuvered softly, landing with the back door turned to them. When it opened, an only set of legs came down from the ramp. That man… it was not possible. Her jaw slacked.  


“King T’Chaka.” the blond man bowed before the king and the prince.

“Took you a long time, Steve Rogers.” the king said, teasing.

“Believe me or not, but I came as fast as I could.”

“I already called for the one you seek.” the king pointed to Wakanda´s largest building entrance.

From within, he could see three figures approaching. He saw Shuri and her mother, leading someone outside.

His heart felt like it would burst.

It was Becky. 

She was wearing one of the Dora Milaje uniforms, but hers was different. It was all black, with details in red. Her left arm was exposed, the metal glinting in the afternoon sun. She had her hair all braided in tiny braids, like many other women in Wakanda used and the tradicional white dots painted over her eyebrows. Shuri was whispering in her ear with a smile, but she was looking directly at Steve. She looked beautiful.

“We'll leave you to your meeting, may it be blessed by Bast.” the king said, and he and prince went away, to enter the building. They gathered the queen and the princess on their way. The Dora Milaje followed, Okoye looking at them with heart in her eyes.

Steve came closer to Becky, she was still frozen in place, looking at him. He was so afraid of that empty stare, his heart hammered in his chest the closer he got to her. But once he got close enough, at arms length, he saw her eyes full of contained emotion.

“You know who I am?” he asked softly. After a moment, she answered.

“You're Steve.” she whispered, looking at him straight in the eyes. “I read about you.”

Steve remembered this same talk, back on a dirty apartment in Bucharest.

“I know you may be confused. Or scared. So am I. But you're lying.” 

Becky gave him a tearful smile.

“Your mother’s name was Sarah.” she started. “You were the most stubborn man in Brooklyn, never knowing when to back out from a fight. We lived in a one bedroom apartment that leaked when it rained and was freezing cold in winter, but had the best spot on the firescape for you to draw. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes.” she finished with a sobbing laugh.

He gave her a tearful smile of his own, and she just threw herself into his arms.

“Beck!” he hugged her tight.

“I know you, I remember you…” she closed her eyes, breathing him deeply. “I dreamt about us, I remember being with you when we were young.” she whispered in his chest. “My Steve.”

It was his turn to cry against her neck. “Becky… I missed you so much!” he said close to her ear, his whole body starting to shake. He felt her grasp the back of his shirt.

“Steve… ” she said softly, leaning away from him to look at his face. Both of them were red from crying. Becky cradled his face with her mismatched hands. “I remember so much. Your voice, your eyes… I remember where we lived, where we fought, where I had to rescue you from alley fights…” they both laughed “but there's one thing I can't remember, Steve, and it kills me.” she said emotional.

“What is it?”

“Our first kiss.” His face crumpled. “Why can’t I remember it?”

“Because,” he took a breath, looking at her with sorrowful eyes. “we never kissed, Beck.”

She looked shocked. “How? How is it possible?”

He looked sad. “It was never the right time, it never happened, I was just a skinny boy with no job and full of health problems, who always saw you as something I could never have to myself. And after the serum…” he shook his head, “Only I know how much I regret that. When I lost you, I couldn’t forgive myself, for never taking that leap, never telling how I really felt.”

She looked stunned at his face, emotions hidden on wide blue eyes. 

He despaired. “I'm sorry, I can go if you want…”

She grabbed the front of his coat, shaking him once before pulling him close.

“Listen to me, punk.” she said angrily. “If you even think about leaving, I'mma kick your ass.” she said in a surprisingly heavy Brooklyn accent. “You still owe me a memory.”

Steve was slow sometimes but wasn't an idiot. Reaching with his hand to the back of her neck, he crushed her lips to his. Becky threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back with all pent up emotion she had. They kissed and kissed, with nips and licks and bites and crushing tongues. They were both breathless when they parted.

“As far as memories and first kisses go…” she said breathing hard “That was a fucking great one.” she grinned.

Steve, like she knew for sure he would, blushed. “Jerk.” he said with a laugh.

“Honestly punk, what took you so long?” she asked with a teary smile.

He smiled back. “Do you have time?” he joked, lifting up one eyebrow.

“I am a very busy personal security for the princess, but I can try to make some time.” she joked back.

He passed his fingers thru her braided hair. “You look beautiful.” She looked healthy, rosy cheeks, and clear light blue eyes, nothing like the sick and tired face he rescued from Siberia. 

She blushed and smiled.  “This place Steve… it healed me. I learnt to be myself again. Who I am, who I was.” she grabbed the front of his shirt. “Thank you, for bringing me here.” she touched her forehead to his chest “ Please… please stay.” her voice catching a little.

He cradled her face then. “Till the end of the line, Beck.”

The kiss she gave him made both Shuri and Okoye, that were clearly spying the whole thing, to wolf whistle at them, cheerfully. 

Wakanda was about to get a new resident.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> If you read this far, thank you! Hope you liked!  
> English is not my birth language, so please forgive me any mistakes.  
> Here are some reference pics for this fic!
> 
> Becky´s HYDRA Cryo Chamber  
> [](http://s6.photobucket.com/user/carolseabra/media/cw02-winter-soldier-in-cryo_zpsxmupjb72.jpg.html)
> 
> Steve at the end of the fic:  
> [](http://s6.photobucket.com/user/carolseabra/media/chris-evans-750x380_zps0zkofz3g.jpg.html)
> 
> A Dora Milaje/Winter Soldier Becky manip I made!  
> [](http://s6.photobucket.com/user/carolseabra/media/girlbucky_zpsclbz9ekr.jpg.html)


End file.
